What concepts were they using in the running game?
They went to a power blocking scheme I believe. I'm not 100% sure tho. I remember reading an article about the scheme switch in the season thread. A change was definitely made. Dallas is a much better running team with the zone blocking scheme versus whatever scheme they switched to.
All I wanna see outta the next coaching staff is holding players accountable, making in game adjustments, an actual emphasis on special teams, and coming up with a system to fit your players versus making your players fit into a system.
Blame Scott Linehan and Jason Garrett
The cowboys had some of their best years running the ball under Callahan as he also coached the offensive lineman. He was fired and Garrett hired Linehan. Multiple coaches wanted more input in the offensive game plan but Linehan was having none of it. Frank Pollack was hired as the Oline coach in 2015 and even after Murray left, the running game was still decent. He was the O-line coach in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Zeke led the league in rushing yards per game his first 2 seasons. He was let go before 2018 because he wanted more input in the offensive game plan, and again, Linehan helped with his exit. Then they hired Sean Alexander who brought a power blocking scheme.. He basically fukked up the offensive line. Dak gets sacked 56 times in 2018. Alexander gets fired, but hire another recent former player to replace him in Marc Colombo.
This year, they've done a mix of zone and power blocking. But when you do that, there becomes confusing in the calls and knowing how and who to block.